Chemical firm boss John Haas dies

John Haas, the former chairman of global chemical company Rohm & Haas and a son of the co-founder, has died at 92.

Family spokeswoman Maureen Garrity said Mr Haas died of natural causes at his family home in Villanova, Pennsylvania, yesterday.

In a statement, his children called him “a kind and charitable man”.

Mr Haas was the son of company co-founder Otto Haas. He started in the business as a process engineer at a Rohm & Haas plant in Philadelphia in 1942. He became a vice president in 1953, and served as board chairman from 1974 to 1978.

In 1960 he became chairman of his parents’ charitable foundation, now the William Penn Foundation, and oversaw its growth over the next three decades.

The family plans a private service and a memorial service.